WWE Royal Rumble 2017 Review & Opinion

WWE Royal Rumble 2017 Review

The WWE Royal Rumble 2017 from the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas is in the history books. An event which saw Roman Reigns clash Kevin Owens for the WWE Universal Championship from the RAW Brand. But also seen John Cena clash with AJ Styles for the WWE Championship from the SmackDown Live Brand. All of this was headlined by the 30-Man Royal Rumble match with an opportunity to go to WrestleMania 33 on April 2 2017. Who walked victorious? Here is the WWE Royal Rumble 2017 Review and Opinion…

The opening promo looks at various Royal Rumble moments throughout the years, not specifically pin-pointed to the winners but Rumble moments. The various matches which will take place are then looked at, along with the competitors in the Rumble match. This is a pretty cool opening promo. We then go inside the Alamodome for the event, with 50,020 in attendance for the show. We then quickly go to the ring for the first match of the evening.

1. WWE RAW Women’s Championship: Charlotte Flair (c) vs. Bayley

Despite the history package being shown on the kickoff show, it isn’t shown before this match. Both ladies make their way to the ring, and soon enough Charlotte is in control of the match. She uses various moves and tactics to remain in control of the match in the opening moments.

Bayley is able to get herself back into the match and uses a variety of aerial tactics to go for Charlotte, Charlotte gets a near finish with the Figure Four/Eight. Charlotte eventually wins this really enjoyable opener with the Natural Selection.

Winner: Charlotte, to retain the WWE RAW Women’s Championship

Match Rating: 3.0 out of 5.0 Stars

2. WWE Universal Championship: Kevin Owens (c) vs. Roman Reigns

The promo for the match is shown, which looks at how the presence of Chris Jericho has greatly aided the championship reign of Kevin Owens. Owens makes his way to the ring first, with Jericho at his side followed by Reigns. They both quickly attack Reigns before Jericho is sent to the sky.

The match quickly begins, and spills outside of the ring. Reigns is initially dominant, before Owens regains the momentum and nails a cannonball into the barricade. The match soon returns inside the ring, and goes very back and forth between the pair.

A really cool spot sees Owens nail a splash from the top rope to the outside, sending Reigns through a table. Jericho plays a pivotal role in the match with not only his yelling and shaking of the cage, but by dropping the brass knuckles into the match.

Eventually though, as it looks like Reigns has the momentum to pick up the victory, Braun Strowman interferes. He proceeds to take out Reigns, allowing Owens to pick up the win in an incredible match.

Winner: Kevin Owens, to retain the WWE Universal Championship

Match Rating: 4.0 out of 5.0 Stars

3. WWE Cruiserweight Championship: Rich Swann (c) vs. Neville

Surprisingly, a history package is shown for the match which looks at Neville going bad and the feud between the pair on RAW and 205 Live. Both men make their way to the ring for the match to begin. The match soon gets started at a rapid pace from both men.

Neville soon assumes the control in the match, using a variety of basic wrestling holds to keep down Swann. Swann is able to regain some momentum, and get a near finish. Neville eventually picks up the win in a love it or hate it match – personally, not for me.

Winner: Neville, to capture the WWE Cruiserweight Championship

Match Rating: 2.0 out of 5.0 Stars

4. WWE Championship: AJ Styles (c) vs. John Cena

The history package is shown first, which surprisingly does not cover the complete history between the pair. We then go inside the Alamodome, with AJ Styles making his way to the ring first. This is followed by Cena, with the usual welcome from those in attendance.

The match gets underway in a back and forth style, with AJ showing great resilience in his character. AJ is able to maintain the dominance for several minutees, until Cena is able to mount a comeback after he counters a Phenomenal Forearm into an FU for the near finish.

Cena displays some great heel traits at this point, before he is nailed with the Phenomenal Forearm for a near finish. The match continues at a rapid pace, before they again exchange near finishes with submission moves including a Figure Four from Cena.

The near finishes continue for several minutes, with Cena eventually picking up the win following a succession of FU’s to become the 16-time champion in an absolutely incredible match.

Winner: John Cena, to capture the WWE Championship

Match Rating: 4.5 out of 5.0 Stars

5. 30-Man Royal Rumble Match

The video montage is shown for the Royal Rumble, with various different superstars shown. The first entrant is revealed as Big Cass and the second being revealed as Chris Jericho. The match gets started with Y2J slapping Cass, who retaliates by battering Y2J.

As the match continues, the entrants begin to filter in. The exchanges between Mojo Rawley and Cass are unfortunately slightly awkward, but the use of Jack Gallagher’s umbrella is amusing. Braun Strowman makes his entrance at Number 7, and quickly empties the ring of several superstars.

The eliminations for Braun continue which include making short work of The Big Show, before he is shockingly eliminated by Baron Corbin. With Strowman gone, the ring is slowly starting to fill up of various superstars. The entry order hasn’t thought out – 6 RAW stars in a row.

As the match continue, Brock Lesnar makes his entrance to the match and quickly makes some eliminations whilst decimating the others. He soon comes face to face with Goldberg when he enters the ring, but is quickly eliminated.

The Undertaker soon makes his entrance, and soon eliminates Goldberg but himself is soon eliminated by Roman Reigns. The final four comes down to Randy Orton, Y2J, Bray Wyatt and Reigns. Eventually, Orton wins the Rumble last eliminating Reigns in a action packed and exciting conclusion.

Winner: Randy Orton, last eliminating Roman Reigns

Match Rating: 4.0 out of 5.0 Stars

The under card on this event, was probably one of the strongest a Royal Rumble event has seen in many years. The only match on the under card, which is either love it or hate it was the cruiserweight match. The other three were exceptionally well fought between the participants. The opening match with Bayley and Charlotte was really good, and in some ways gave you a small snippet at what they are capable of doing. There is so much more which could be achieved with these two which made is a great match.

The WWE Universal Championship match, was absolutely brilliant to watch. The presence of Jericho wasn’t needed, but it added so much to the match. They made use of the match stipulations well, and Braun Strowman interfering was not something you expected in the slightest. It gave a clear direction going from the match, and temporarily removed Reigns from the championship picture. The match between AJ Styles and John Cena, was arguably the best match in their series. Not only was it superbly contested, but they told a cracking story throughout which left you wanting more.

The Rumble match itself was certainly interesting in itself. It began very slow and methodically, even though Braun Strowman looked impressive with his mass elimination. This Rumble was ultimately categorized by strong performances by Chris Jericho, Sami Zayn and Baron Corbin. Ultimately, it was the final few minutes with Goldberg/Brock, Goldberg/Undertaker and Undertaker/Roman Reigns which made this match really enjoyable to watch. It made you think that any three of those combinations could take place at WrestleMania 33. But totally worth watching, the Royal Rumble 2017 Review was one of the most enjoyable undertaken in recent time.

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